This is a practical guide to tools: how to choose and use them, shown in 220 photographs. It is a simple and accessible guide to do-it-yourself tools for a wide range of jobs, including tiling, painting, flooring, woodwork and general repairs in the home. It includes photographs for easy identification of the tools. It shows you how to use planes, chisels, saws, drills, hammers, screwdrivers, pliers, sanders and many more. It includes instructions on making the best use of each tool, with hints and tips on selecting the right types. It offers guidelines that show you what to wear, how to handle tools with care, and how to tackle jobs safely to avoid accidents. For any task around the home, tools will be needed. Knowing how to use them efficiently is vital if you want a good result. This book discusses preparation, the right tools to use for a particular job, and how to use them safely and effectively. Useful tips point the way to improving your skills to get the most out of your tools.

Readers with a hunger for knowledge and an interest in the myriad ways people have taught themselves to make, grow, and build will discover the ins and outs of how to do everything they've ever wondered about in this colourful, inviting volume. With dozens of useful and intriguing visual tutorials that cover how to carve a turkey, capture a swarm of bees, predict the weather by the clouds, darn socks, create a butterfly garden, set up a dog agility course, keep a nature sketchbook, navigate by the stars, and more, this rich compendium will educate, fascinate, spark conversation, and inspire new hobbies and experiences.

Protect your health, reduce waste, and be a better steward of the Earth by making the switch to natural cleaning products with these 43 easy recipes!A clean house should not come at the expense of your health. Common household cleaners are not kid-friendly or pet-friendly-or lung-friendly, or skin-friendly. Store-bought cleaners that contain bleach and ammonia, drain cleaners, toilet cleaners, and more are the cause of thousands of household emergencies each year. These harsh cleaners and artificial fragrances can irritate your eyes and lungs, and exacerbate allergies and asthma. Not to mention how all these chemicals and packaging materials are affecting the environment. Bottom line, your home-and the planet-are simply safer without them. Most people think natural cleaners either: don't work are difficult / annoying to make involve a lot of exotic, expensive ingredients that are too hard to find all of the above! The truth is, you can clean every room in your house-curtains, carpet, toilet, tile grout, whatever-without ever touching another bottle of Clorox. In this book, you'll learn why these cleaners work, how to stock your home with a few basic ingredients you can grab as needed-and why you shouldn't use some of the DIY cleaning recipes you see online. You'll also learn: How to safely and naturally clean every surface in your home, from stainless steel appliances to moldy showers Which natural cleaning ingredients should never be mixed (and why) How to customize your cleaners with essential oils Why you should use distilled water instead of tap water There's even a recipe for cleaning dog toys! Make the switch to non-toxic DIY cleaning solutions now!

Skoolies - school buses that have been converted into living spaces - are a natural extension of the tiny house craze. School buses are an ideal choice for tiny homes because they're essentially ready for interior design and construction from the get-go: you've got a frame, a roof, and a floor, right from the start. Skoolie! offers an inspiring inside look at the appeal of the on-the-road lifestyle, with profiles of skoolie fans and dozens of stunning photos of interiors designed for simple living. In addition, this is the first book on the topic to include a complete conversion guide, along with step-by-step photos showing the process, from taking out the seats to choosing the best layout of the living space to accommodate the needs of the residents.

You'll learn:

-- How to shape logs, make corner joints, erect walls, fit joists, add decks and porches, and much more.

-- How manufacturers' kit homes differ, illustrated by many photographs and detailed drawings.

-- How to pick the best site for a house and plan your foundation, driveway and landscaping.

-- What the manufacturer of a kit log house can do for you -- and how to be sure you get what you want.

-- The secrets of how to save the most on building your log home -- what you can do best yourself and when to get professional help.

-- Tools you'll need and ways to simplify hard jobs like raising logs and planning for chimneys.

This is the basic book for the log house builder, with those special tips that come only with much experience.

Welding is a skill any do-it-yourself enthusiast needs in his arsenal. It is only when you can join metal that you can properly repair and create. This book is the perfect introduction for beginners, and an excellent refresher for veteran welders, a work so comprehensive and so complete that most readers won't need any further instruction. "How To Weld" starts with a brief history of welding, an overview of different types of welding, and a thorough discussion of safety practices. Longtime welding instructor Todd Bridgum describes various tools and types of metals, as well as techniques and types of joints. Bridgum discusses gas, stick, wire-feed (MIG and TIG), even brazing, completing each section with a series of exercises that fully illustrate the skills he has covered. This book concludes with six projects, including construction of a welding table, gantry, and jack stands.

A burglary takes place on average every 30 seconds. This book will show you how you can reduce the risk of it happening to you. There is a lot that the average person can do to protect themselves, their family and their property. This book will show you how to perform a security review on your home and lifestyle: - how to identify a range of vulnerabilities, threats and risks; and - how to take the countermeasures that will make it highly unlikely that you become a victim of crime. The measures are mostly simple, and all are designed to be implemented with the minimum of cost and effort. Contents: 1. Introduction; 2. Undertaking a House Security Review; 3. Securing Your Home While You Are Away; 4. Good Neigbours are an Asset; 5. Threats from Bogus Callers; 6. If the Worst Happens; 7. Implementing Your Chosen Coutermeasures; Useful websites; Index.

The ultimate guide to sheds from the renowned presenter of Shed and Buried. When it comes to truly finding out who you are and what makes you tick, there is one thing that needs no online subscription to a cloud-based server with a password you keep forgetting. That, my friend, is a shed. Your shed is your refuge. It's the place where you go when you need a break from this mad, crazy world. But a shed can only help you if it's not attached to the house. The minute you attach the shed to the gaff, or confuse the concept of a shed with the concept of a conservatory, or a home office or a Shepherd's Hut, you're doing yourself over. You're never, ever going to get spiritual enlightenment in a lean-to. That's like going to find yourself in Thailand, and staying in the airport. You need to make that pilgrimage to the bottom of the garden. Whether you're walking down a muddy track or crunching along a perfect gravel path, you have to get out of the house. Breathe in the fresh air. Then pull open the door, grapple for the light switch, fire up the heaters and turn on the kettle. Once you're inside the four walls of your shed, you can do whatever you like. You're the king in there.

Sit back, relax, watch the waves, and transform your home into the perfect beachfront "cabin." Are you a beach bum, a beach lover, or simply just a fan of the water? If you find yourself constantly longing for a relaxing vacation along the sandy shores of Tahiti or yearning to go on a coast-to-coast cruise, look no further. Interior designer Anna OErnberg has all the solutions to bring the waves to your home and living room. With Anna's advice and expertise, you can turn your own apartment or living space into a beautiful waterfront home. Live on the beach with nautical style and enjoy the waves. Using seashells, ropes, dark woods, and light-colored walls, the interior designs in this book remind readers of sunken ships and buried treasures. The decor will inspire homeowners to personalize their homes into the most calming and soothing living quarters, a place where they can sit, relax, and enjoy the ocean breeze. Projects include: Wooden lampshades Nautical placemats and pot holders Building your own lighthouse Beanbags and pillowcases The nautical look is a classic theme that suits a wide audience. Whether you're looking for new ideas to spruce up your city center apartment or looking to decorate your holiday vacation home, this book has the answers. The Nautical Home has a little something for everyone, from the average homeowner hoping to reinvent a room or more to the recent college grad looking for new ways to decorate a new home. With the interior designs in this book, you can finally be the captain of your own ship or home.

Everything you need to know to build with rammed earth in warm and cold climates. Rammed earth - sand, gravel, and clay or lime/cement binder packed into forms - is a low-energy, high-performance building method, yielding beautiful, sustainable results. It's thermally stable and can be insulated, can actively modulate humidity, provides a healthy indoor environment, and allows site materials to be used for major structural and building envelope elements. Essential Rammed Earth Construction covers design, building science, tools, and step-by-step building methods for any climate, with a special emphasis on building in cold climates of the northern US, Canada, and northern Europe. Coverage includes: Overview of earthen building Appropriate use of rammed earth walls Stabilized versus raw rammed earth Design considerations, including structural, insulation, and building envelope details Special considerations for cold and freeze-thaw climates Construction drawings, with step-by-step building instructions Tools and labor covering industrial methods, low-tech techniques, formwork options, mix design, budgets, and schedules Codes, inspections, and permits. This guide is an essential resource for experienced builders, DIY home owners, designers, engineers, and architects interested in learning about rammed earth construction.

Simple green roof design and installation for the do-it-yourself builder Essential Green Roof Construction is a comprehensive, in-depth guide to building simple green roofs for houses and small buildings. Packed with detailed photos, illustrations, case studies, and code compliance advice, it offers clear step-by-step instructions necessary to create your own living roof on a new build or as a retrofit. Coverage includes: The benefits of a green roof The basics of planning and design Assessing site conditions such as aspect, slope, and loads Navigating building codes and working with building officials Material options, including professional grade and economical or local alternatives Planting suggestions for different roof climates and conditions, including food production When to call on professionals to ensure safety and integrity Step-by-step guidance for safe roof installation and detailing Annual green roof maintenance. Where common sense meets beauty - a green roof is a system of layers that work together to support plant life, insulate homes, and make the world a greener place. Essential Green Roof Construction will give you the knowledge and confidence to install your own green roof.

Fresh, local nutrient-dense fruits vegetables are hard to find in winter in cold climates. Growing warm-weather crops like tomatoes, bananas, avocados, and other perennials is nearly impossible using conventional structures. The solution for millions of backyard and small-scale commercial growers is self-heating solar greenhouses. The Year-round Solar Greenhouse is the one-stop guide to designing and building greenhouses that harness and store energy from the sun to create naturally heated, lush growing environments even in the depths of winter, covering principles of solar greenhouse design and siting, glazing material properties and selection, controlling heat loss, ventilation, and construction methods. Additionally, an in-depth section covers sustainable ways of heating the greenhouse without fossil fuels, including using thermal mass and storing heat underground with a ground to air heat exchanger. Variations include attached solar greenhouses, earth sheltered greenhouses, plus integrating hydroponics and aquaponics. More than a dozen case studies from across North America provide inspiration and demonstrate specific challenges and solutions for growing year-round in any climate. Grow your own food, anytime, anywhere using the power of the sun! Lindsey Schiller is a greenhouse designer and with co-author Marc Plinke, co-owner of Ceres Greenhouse Solutions. Lindsey has designed, toured and helped build hundreds of energy-efficient greenhouses spanning small residential structures to acre-size commercial facilities. Marc Plinke is an inventor-innovator with a PhD in engineering who has focused his engineering mindset on building innovative, energy-efficient and smarter greenhouses, with the intention of enabling people to grow their own food sustainably and year-round.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author and star of Netflix’s Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, this graphic novel brings Kondo's life-changing tidying method to life with the fun, quirky story of a woman who transforms her home, work, and love life using Kondo's advice and inspiration.

In The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up, Marie Kondo presents the fictional story of Chiaki, a young woman in Tokyo who struggles with a cluttered apartment, messy love life, and lack of direction. After receiving a complaint from her attractive next-door neighbour about the sad state of her balcony, Chiaki gets Kondo to take her on as a client. Through a series of entertaining and insightful lessons, Kondo helps Chiaki get her home - and life - in order. This insightful, illustrated case study is perfect for people looking for a fun introduction to the KonMari Method of tidying up, as well as tried-and-true fans of Marie Kondo eager for a new way to think about what sparks joy. Featuring illustrations by award-winning manga artist Yuko Uramoto, this book also makes a great read for manga and graphic novel lovers of all ages.

Most of us would love to design and build our own home. In fact, more people than ever are doing precisely this. But how exactly do you go about it? How much of the building work should you do yourself? This manual explains the entire process in plain English, backed up with hundreds of colour photos showing real self-build projects taking shape. Each chapter is devoted to a key stage of the build from the foundations right through to snagging and completion. Whether you tackle some of the works yourself, or employ architects and contractors, this step-by-step guide will show you how to stay firmly in control, get to grips with the latest planning and building regulations, and complete your project on time and within budget.

Let master of Maximalism Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen tell you how to create and curate a space that you can truly love spending time in. Changing Rooms' flamboyant lead designer has made a great living out of being himself, having spent his entire career encouraging people to reject decorative modesty. More More More is a rejection of so-called "good taste" that leaves people being so in control of their own home that even life feels out of place within it, and instead celebrates exuberance, lavish living, and individuality. It's all about giving yourself the confidence you lack by curating your own perfect haven of chaos, so that you can live and love your stuff - in surroundings that are anything but beige! With this book, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen will not only explain how to adopt maximalism in the home, but promises to change your outlook on living happily in it. Structured within a complete timeline of maximalism, there's something for everyone to love! Dive into this decor book to discover a whirlwind of topics, including: - The Principles of Layering - Asymmetry - A Tricky Balancing Act - Using Pattern like a pro - Storage - to store or not to store - Collecting vs. Aqcuiring More More More is overflowing with Laurence's signature style, exuberance and a lifetime's experience in lavish living and take-no-prisoners individuality. Part narrative treatise, part visual celebration of Maximalism through the ages, it is rich in history, anecdotes and quite a few rules, most of which are to be broken!. Having spent his entire career encouraging people to reject decorative modesty, he will not only inform the reader how to embrace Maximalism in their home, but promises to change how they live within it. Minimalists beware! A must-have home decor book for Fans of Laurence Llewlyn-Bowen, a new generation of home-owners and renters who want to rebel against the mass-market principles from minimalist as well as those trying to create a healthy work-life environment. Doubling up as the perfect coffee-table book, More More More is sure to delight.

Collins Complete DIY Manual has sold over 3 million copies and is the most comprehensive and authoritative DIY manual ever produced. For novices, DIY enthusiasts or professionals, this essential book continues to be the most in-depth, up-to-date and user-friendly DIY book on the market, covering everything from decorating and repairs to electricity, plumbing and much more. This fully updated version features an even more accessible design to help you navigate easily through the info, and thousands of new photographs and illustrations to make sure you get your job done quickly and safely. There have been many changes to regulations in recent years, particularly in electricity (the new Part P legislation and changes to cable colours) - the Manual not only lists but also clearly explains these new regs and helps you work with them. And as we all become much more conscious of the environmental impact our homes have, new material on energy-saving DIY is essential reading for any householder - saving you money too in the process.

Use electric fencing to protect your livestock, poultry, beehives, and garden. Portable electric fencing is key to successful rotational grazing, while permanent electric fencing effectively protects gardens and orchards and secures large pastures. Through clear instructions accessible to everyone, you'll learn when to use these methods or a combination of the two, plus how to plan for, build, and maintain your electric fencing. This crucial tool is cost effective and versatile, but veteran farmer and author Ann Larkin Hansen also explains what not to do with an electric fence.

This completely revised and updated edition of the bestselling Bathroom Idea Book features inspirational and practical design solutions for the number one choice for a remodel indoors. A virtual designer's notebook of ideas, inspiration and information, without the high designer price tag, this will be a homeowner's first step in turning a dream bath into a real one, whether it's new construction or a remodel.

Expert woodworker Spike Carlsen offers clear, simple, fully illustrated instructions for everything from plant supports and a clothesline to a potting bench, a chicken coop, a hoop greenhouse, a cold frame, a beehive, a root cellar with storage bins, and an outdoor shower. Most of the projects are suitable for complete novices, and all use just basic tools and standard building materials.